Cass is flying off to France this Friday (or actually, early Saturday morning), so with a full week of school ahead, we needed to make the most of the weekend to do some last minute shopping, sorting, organizing and even start some packing. The cat's carer needed to be sorted as did the transportation to and from the airport as well as sourcing and sorting various drugs, supplements and other essentials. We also needed to do a targeted food shop so we had the essentials, but didn't hav food left in the fridge over the two week break.

Cass is doing her semi-regular trip to France with her mum, Valerie, again this year. They always plan on visiting three different cities or regions to supplement their book-ended stays in Paris. The TGV is again working its grand rapid magic, whisking them from Paris to Rennes to Tours to Limoge to Paris and all sorts of interesting points in and around these regions, as yet unplanned! We've got all the trains worked out and tickets delivered to Taiwan as well as all the hotels in every place. Cass and Val will sort through the various tours and sights when they arrive in the different spots: it's worked out well for them this way before. We booked a few special items that were likely to sell out in Paris, but I'll report on them after the fact in a few weeks!

I procrastinated quite uncharacteristically and vacillated between an inaugural trip to an icy cold, snowy Korea or instead taking in some sun in Thailand, the Philippines or even Sri Lanka again. In the end, after all my annoying decision-making of the past few weeks, I felt settled enough to make some very belated plans. I decided to head to Japan, but not to my usual stomping grounds of southern Honshu and Kyushu. Rather, I'm going to make the pilgrimage back to Nagano prefecture, where I first lived 30 years ago! I managed to make contact with my friend, and second boss, Hiromi, through some stealthy inquires on social media and other platforms....it's really quite amazing to find people after such a time with very little effort! I've bought a seven day rail pass, so plan to fly into Tokyo before getting the bullet train to Nagano (which, of course didn't exist last time I was there). After that, I've no idea. All I know is that I must thread my way down to the other end of the country to fly out of Fukuoka a week later. I have a tiny backpack of essentials only, so it should be quite the adventure!

Our weekend was filled with crowded shopping malls, or at least felt like it. The local Sogo department store was chock-a-block with humanity in a pre-Christmas sale frenzy. If we'd known we never would have tried to brave it! After fueling up at Din Tai Feng in the early afternoon, we cast ourselves upon the escalators, squeezed into lifts and variously dodged and nudged our way through unrelenting crowds of all types of shoppers. We eventually made the top floor where Japanese retailer Hands Tailung had some super-duper soft, large pillows. Cass had spotted them some time ago and she'd decided that these were just what our poor little arthritic cats needed to get comfortable. (As it turns out, as cat lovers everywhere will attest to, the little buggers seemed more interested in the packing the pillows came in.....perhaps they'll come around!). With this gigantic impediment in a large bag, we then decided to negotiate around Uniqlo, but the press of humanity was crazy inside. The line for the registers stretched right around the whole store, so we decided to score some bread and cakes in the basement then exit stage left!

Cass is still recovering from the after-effects of her lurgy so we didn't do too much else. We both took a recuperative stance in preparation for the big burst of energy we'll need next weekend and beyond. Photos: some quirky sign at Hands Tailung, Cass in the queue at Flavor Field patisserie, and with our shopping haul among the giant Christmas Hello Kitties! Video up top is of a purring Virgil, struggling to get comfortable with her arthritic joints. Cass is reading White Sands a most satisfyingly different travel book and I've found a Lee Child, Reacher book I hadn't read, Echo Burning.

There are two reasons why this blog is never(rarely!) missed during an academic year. I've been made aware by certain select readers when the blog is missing or late that it has indeed been missed. This gives me a little motivation to keep plugging away, knowing there is a small but dedicated readership out there! Secondly, I feel if I interrupt momentum I may never re-gain it: timetabling activities adds to my Pavlovian teacher instincts.

There were a couple of valid reasons for missing a week and the first of those is that I'd succumbed to various minor illnesses like headaches associated with cold sores and a nasty head cold to boot. I'm normally fairly immune to these ailments but do fall prey to them if I experience any high levels of stress. It was this very condition to which I fell prey during the last fortnight as we both wrestled with some fairly large decision making.

To cut a long story short, despite the fact that during our long tenure here I have been a specialist language teacher, next year I'm going to take on the role of classroom teacher for Grade 5. The "powers that be" presented me with their proposal a few weeks back and we've had time to ponder and decide ever since. They lauded my involvement and collegiality, they praised my demeanour and knowledge and lavished me with praise for my curriculum knowledge and good standing among teachers and students alike. Their mantra of "change is good" has been ringing softly through the hallways for some time, so I suppose it was impossible to stay immune from it forever.

We thought long and hard about our needs and wants at this time of our careers. Cass is ensconced and very happy in her current professional role so she had no issues to struggle with. In the end, we decided that neither of us was ready to "pull up stumps" just yet and it didn't fit in with our plans to move on. The irony is that the position offered is only offered to the most outstanding candidates they can find, so I suppose I'll take all that as a pat on the back. I would have preferred to continue in my current role just because it was comfortable and known, but now we've made the choice to sign up again, there is a lot of upside too. I'll be able to really establish some relationships with kids come next year and again, after a long period away, re-establish my expectations for the class I'll be responsible for. So, with all sorts of thoughts swirling in a madding tornado, it wasn't the best time to be commenting on the minutia of our lives via Blogger!

We did manage to have a very relaxing weekend for American Thanksgiving and sampled some fine wine while watching some cricket, ate out, went for some walks and also saw some movies. It was super relaxing, but made the following week (with all its decision making) seem long and arduous.
This weekend we watched an absolutely stunning movie directed by Tom Ford called "Nocturnal Animals". It was lavishly set and the attention to detail was quite mesmerizing. It had a laconic style that variously lulled and wooed then savagely shocked as the story flicked to its parallel thread.

Our walks around the immediate neighborhood and suburb (including over to the cinema described) have been pleasant in what is a very slowly transforming autumn. In fact we wandered over just in shirt sleeves on a sunny, breezy afternoon on the very first day of winter. The days are getting noticeably shorter and a tiny chill can send a shiver in the early evening, but Taipei's damp, bone-chilling cold is still a couple of months away we guess. Our forays into light woolen coverings have been terminated quite quickly, at least at this stage!

Photos: Chris and Val gifted us some superb Henschke's when they visited in April and we were able to crack, sip and enjoy with some cricket....how Aussie! A couple of Friday nights back, I headed down to near the CKS Memorial Hall area to see some ex-pats playing in a rock band. The venue is just round the corner from the MRT station at the Hall so I was able to snap a few night pictures. Cass cosied up to a strange creature at the movies and we spied an ever increasing Christmas decoration presence at the local malls. I hit the steps on Sunday: they never get any easier! Sorry about the absent blog entry last week....

There's a tangible sense that whatever the most kitsch, raucous and gaudy product on this seething mass of an island, it's definitely to be found in the back alleys and waterfront boardwalk of this spot, as long as it's cheap, possibly nasty, but always, just always, remarkable and very interesting!

The accompanying food ranges from the local delicacies, among them most parts of a pig's entrails and other squishy bits, all the way through to deep fried flattened whole squids on a stick and ice-creams that defy gravity with a foot high swirl of icy confectionery.

This could be nowhere else than the fabled jewel of the north coast, the Yahweh of the Damshui, the emperor of the rivermouth, yes, indeed, the vibrant twin towns of Damshui-Bali. We'd been disgorged with the madding hordes at the terminus station of Damshui in the late morning on Sunday, to be greeted with a biblical crowd of tourists and a searing sun set to wreak havoc upon our lily white visages. The train had become increasingly packed as we approached the coast, yet when the train doors whooshed open, the wave of people slowly washed down the stairs and through the electronic gates before fizzing out onto the forecourt, spreading and dampening the riverside parks and seating areas with its rather awesome volume and variety.

We took a sharp turn right to dodge the froth, yet soon encountered a street barrier. In very un-Taiwanese fashion we threaded our way through the barrier, crossed the street illegally then squeezed our way back onto "Old Street" as it speared away from the station. The sights and sounds and smells never cease to surprise and amaze, despite the rather kitsch nature of the proffered goods, services and food. A cacophony of chatter and tinny background music blasts away as you move down the street and each shopfront competes to draw the eye with some visual assault or other. After we reached about the 3/4 mark we ducked into a tight alley that headed towards the waterfront boulevard...

Despite the relatively early hour, the boardwalk was already filling up, so after a bit more of a wander upriver, we headed back to the ferry wharf to book a berth over to the western bank and the twin town of Bali. We were ushered in quick fashion onto a utilitarian ferry chock full of humanity for the dash across the powerful, wide Damshui River. The entry point (a drop down bow) was raised to make the journey, reminding us of a troop carrier en-route to a foreign beach under fire: we half expected artillery to start pinging off the metal door rather than the odd dramatic crash of boat wake!

Bali was a sizzling melting pot of humanity squeezed onto a narrow waterfront promenade with corresponding rows of fast food stalls and tacky souvenirs, until we made our way further towards the river mouth when the park widened dramatically, the stalls disappeared and grass and trees made a reappearance. After a pleasant stroll through undulating parkland with a pleasant breeze whistling off the water, we wandered through venues with karaoke singing men with a dedicated following and racetracks with dozens of tiny designer cars being driven by tiny tots! If they were too young to operate them, the cars could be guided by remote control by a trailing parent: so cute.

Our lunch venue, The Four Seasons Waterfront was a real treat. I'd spied this place in a photo taken by one of my Taiwanese colleagues and she gave a vague description of its location, so we tried to track it down and with some success. We each had a four course lunch in French style, slightly incongruous as it was served in Balinese style thatched roofed pagodas, but hey, this is Taiwan, the land of the beautifully quirky! We posed for the obligatory shot near their wet edge pool looking out over the river before re-tracing our steps back to the ferry wharf.

A queue for the ferry of at least 500 metres length was slightly off-putting, but the ferrymen and pilots were so efficient, that the line was whittled down within half an hour and we were cruising across to wander back through the park and hop on the train back home in no time at all. It was an enervating afternoon and evening and we managed to stay up for only a relatively short time before getting an early night to be ready for work today. We'd been over to the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi buildings on Saturday to see Billy Flynn's Long Halftime Walk (a rare disappointment from the usually reliable Ang Lee) and eat at Thai Town, so we'd had a rather busy weekend.

Cass with stars of a movie at Shin Kong, and various shots from our Sunday outing to Damshui and Bali.

Cass hosted her annual Book Club soiree on Friday night and it was the culmination of some weeks of some quite considerable planning and effort. As I mentioned last week, it's hard to believe that a relatively simple meal for six people could assume the logistics of the D Day landings in Normandy, yet somehow....!

Apparently the hottest topic of discussion was not their current book, but the staus of the world as we know it. We've been collectively shocked in the last week by DT winning the American presidential election, despite all predictions to the contrary. The guy himself seemed quite unprepared for the outcome, which made me question whether he was really seriously considering taking on the office. What does this mean, especially coming on the back of the BREXIT decision and the minor rise of ultra conservatives like Pauline Hanson in Australia?

There have been a myriad of articles written, debates fought and views espoused, some fair and reasoned while others have been vitriolic or hysterical, on both sides of the argument. I wouldn't like to weigh in with my relatively ill-informed world view, except to say that there appears to a genuine sense that established political machines are just not representative of the people in this age. To me, it looks like politicians round the world will have to reassess how they're connecting to their electorates, or run the risk of "people power" electing some maverick choices. These people may or may not be successful: time will tell!

The mood around our campus has been interesting. There are a few out and proud republicans who are quietly celebrating, yet the vast majority is a little hang dog at the moment. Some of them have articulated their feelings as exasperation or embarrassment. One of my colleagues even had the day off to lie in bed, unable to face work the day after the election! The departing president probably summed it up best by stating that the sun would still rise tomorrow morning, so let's just get on with it. Good advice!

After the big Friday night, we relished some glorious weather and real down time for the weekend. We got out to eat at Din Tai Feng and have a little retail window shop in a creamy lit Saturday afternoon down at the Sogo forecourt. My streaming app for the cricket worked well, but the Aussie cricketers didn't respond in kind, being slowly and surely strangled by the inexorably steady hand of the South Africans.

On Sunday we had a little wander in the neighbourhood, eschewing the rugged delights and cardio bursting appeal of the "steps". The bridge across "Sulfur Creek" is a great vantage point to check out our immediate area, as witnessed by the video above, or here. The sun was coursing through the parks and open areas as the water flowed strongly under the bridge and out to the Damshui River tributaries. The sky was padded by tiles of cloud, all trussed up like a leg of lamb bursting from its string cocoon. What a delight to stroll across to the shops on this route.

Photos: Cass working pavlova wonders in our little toaster oven, steam punk style artwork from the elementary kids, the moving seat addition to our stairwell for the elderly upstairs, DinTai Feng, lilies, glorious weather and the "girls".

The two days of the weekend had a razor sharp delineation between an urban, concrete crawl and a bucolic, foliage-dripping sprawl. Our week had again been punctuated by work and yet more work interspersed with work so we were looking forward especially to the weekend. Is it a fact that we seem to be working harder as we get older or are we slowing down and finding work that much more difficult? We don't know, but we do know that the weekends are becoming increasingly precious and anticipated and definitely more needed!

The urban crawl involved going to three different food outlets for supplies and a few other places in our 'hood for good measure. It's not that we're on a gastronomic splurge, but rather, Cassy is hosting her annual Book Club dinner at our place on Friday night. Somehow, despite being just one meal and a relatively modest one at that, our shopping load seems to quadruple. Cass also insists that these six women eat like tiny sparrows as well, so it's astounding how arduous the shopping becomes!

We did the regular shop at Wellcome and a few specialty items were added to our regular basket for the week. Cass intended to source as much as she could here, before we scootered over to Jason's Marketplace, lurking in the basement of the still impressive, yet slightly faded glory of the Dayeh Takashimaya building over near the baseball stadium in Chung Chen Road. Jason's, predictably, provided not just essential items for the dinner (like smoked salmon and capers, unusual cheeses, French champagne and Australian wines) but extra little things for us as well of course! Bags bulging with produce, we staggered back up the stairs and loaded up Blacky the scooter with all manner of goods before a teetering, tottering careful journey back home.

After unloading our second bulk of goods, we set off yet again, this time on foot, into the buttery afternoon light of a stellar Autumn day. We wandered past the little corrugated iron humpy of the local cobbler, who had resurrected my crumbling dress shoes from oblivion for a cool $20 that very day. Onward down Chung Shan and by the upmarket Jamie Chen designer store with its contrasting nose bleed price-tags before strolling round the corner for the weekly bread order at Wendel's. Leaving the bread and cake haul to pick up later, we checked with the nearby Pizza Oggi on their opening hours for next Friday for the collection of two of their signature walnut salads, before sauntering over to our favourite "Eat Burger" for some tea.

We checked Uniqlo on the 4th floor of the Sogo building to scout for winter bargains and had a brief look around, sizing up some winter coats for mild "non-European" style winters, before exiting, picking up the bread and wandering home again to catch the highlights of the cricket.

Sunday opened with similar atmospheric fanfare and sunlight bathed the back rooms in the morning, patted Cassy's laundry dry, and beckoned us out into its sweet caress before the morning was done!
Despite the fact that we were luxuriating in some HD cricket via iPad app and some VPN trickery, lunch in the cricket signaled us to get out into the world. With narry a blink, my darling instantly readied herself for a trip on the trails with no notice whatsoever: she's a gem!

The Tienmu Gudao was a difficult slog in the midday heat. Despite the rapid onset of cooling autumn temperatures, Sunday was an aberrant 30 degrees, with a slightly relieving zephyr to temper the sizzle. We topped the peak after a slog up 1500 steps, and reveled in a pleasant, longer than usual walk along the ridge-line trail in a tunnel of rock and cooling foliage. The Macaque's occasional squatting poles were mercifully vacant as we made our way along the path which narrowed as it ducked under the soaring rock cliffs. We reached the end of the path under the Cultural College before eventually turning back to head back down for our ice cold cooling draughts at the base of the steps. A couple of baguettes from Cedric at Lutetia were just the ticket for a light lunch on the way back home and we settled in to rest our aching legs, feet up with the cricket for the remainder of the afternoon.

Photos: Virgy, urban day, country day. Special mention of photo number three above: this space was open when we went over to do the shop and the silver car had filled the spot when we got back....that's some pretty impressive reverse parking!